Texas relief groups prepared to spend weeks in Kentucky after deadly tornadoes

Teams of Texans were on the ground Tuesday in Kentucky assisting with recovery efforts and they expect the region will continue to need outside assistance for the next several weeks.

DALLAS - Help from out of state, including Texas, continues to assist hundreds of people affected by devastating tornadoes across the Midwest.

Teams of Texans were on the ground Tuesday in Kentucky assisting with recovery efforts and they expect the region will continue to need outside assistance for the next several weeks.

The Texas Baptist Men continue to answer the call for more help. They’ve been sending crews and equipment over the last few days. On Tuesday, they sent frozen goods and refrigeration units to feed volunteers in hard hit Kentucky.

"It helps us be able to house food and buy food, enough to feed 80-100 people at a time of our volunteers," said David Wells, Director of Disaster Relief, Texas Baptist Men.

The group is also sending out trucks full of cardboard boxes and packing paper covered in encouraging messages for homeowners retrieving their belongings.

"When you’re sending out box trucks like that, you know it’s bad, because then it’s just recover your supplies, the homeowner is recovering things out of their home," Wells said.

They’re expecting the need for help to continue for at least another four to five weeks.

Grand Prairie-based World Vision is sending shipments of relief supplies as well -- food, emergency kits, hygiene products, heaters, and more to help 1,500 storm victims in Kentucky. The shipments were loaded up and sent out Monday night.

Also supporting the emergency effort is Texas A&M Task Force One. It has a team of 10 urban search and rescue specialists based at Murray State University – about 25 miles from hard-hit Mayfield, Kentucky.

"The trees, right, trees blown everywhere, knocked down, just destruction. Buildings, just all type of materials, you know, from wherever the tornadoes kind of made their pass through, just thrown around, twisted around, you know, lay down on the ground there," said Marshall Mohr, Support Specialist, Texas A&M Task Force One.

They’ve been coordinating logistics for several out of state teams coming in to help.

General view of tornado damaged structures on December 11, 2021 in Mayfield, Kentucky. Multiple tornadoes tore through parts of the lower Midwest late on Friday night leaving a large path of destruction and multiple fatalities. (Photo by Brett Carlse

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"As those teams start arriving, we make sure that they have a place to stay, food to eat. Anything that they need to support themselves," Mohr said.

The team has been in the area since Saturday assisting FEMA’s incident support team.

"Praying for these folks. They're definitely in one of the worst times of their lives. I know a lot of them are still trying to, you know, find out where they can stay, you know, rebuilding their lives," Mohr said.

Texas A&M Task Force One will be in Kentucky for 14 days and could possibly stay longer if they’re asked.

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